Fake Police Scams Double in Japan as Financial Losses from Fraud Soar

Financial losses from specialized fraud almost doubled in Japan in 2025, rising by ¥70.4 billion or 98.0% to ¥142.3 billion, according to National Police Agency Statistics. This is the highest total recorded to date. The number of reported cases climbed by 6,789 (32.3%) to 27,832.

Daily losses from specialized fraud came to ¥390.0 million, while the average amount swindlers netted in each case increased by ¥1.7 million to ¥5.2 million.

There were 14,273 reported cases involving people aged 65 or older. Excluding cases of corporate financial losses, seniors accounted for 51.3% of all reported fraud cases, and 59.2% of total losses.

The police handled 6,575 cases (down 1 case) involving 2,338 fraudsters (up 64). Of these, 1,379 culprits (around 60%) served as ukeko, the person who collected money from targeted victims. Just 69 were the main perpetrators. A total of 414 members and associates of designated gangs accounted for 17.7% of those arrested.

Among “It’s me” scams (ore ore sagi), where a scammer impersonates a relative of the victim or a trusted member of the community, cases involving the impersonation of police officers more than doubled to 11,014, with financial losses rising to ¥100.5 billion. Strategies used by criminals included telling victims that their bank accounts were being used for crimes or that illegal mobile phone contracts had been made in their names. Cases of false billing fraud in which victims are tricked into paying false usage fees for services they have never used, remained around the same at 5,706. There were 3,179 cases of refund fraud, based on claims that victims will be reimbursed for medical bills or insurance premiums.

Younger people were more likely to be the victims of impersonations of police officers, with the largest group being those in their thirties, at 2,239, followed by those in their twenties, at 1,718. However, the largest proportion of losses were incurred by people in their seventies at a total of ¥27.4 billion, followed by those in their sixties, at ¥25.6 billion.

Social Media Fraud

Social media investment fraud, in which unauthorized images of famous people are used in social media advertisements to encourage investment in fake schemes, and romance fraud via social media and matching apps saw further increases in 2025. The number of cases rose by 48.2% to 15,168 and financial losses climbed by 44.2% to ¥183.4 billion. The NPA categorizes longer-term social media fraud separately from specialized fraud.

The average financial loss per case in social media investment fraud was extremely high at ¥12.1 million. Most of the victims were men and women aged from their forties to their sixties.

Data Sources

• Data on specialized fraud (Japanese) from the National Police Agency.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Smartphones and other items seized from a base for specialized fraud in Cambodia, on display in Nagoya in August 2025.)